The present invention pertains to article diverters and, in particular, to high-speed diverters. Although the invention finds particular application to the diverting of baggage, such at airport baggage handling systems, or the like, the invention may find other applications.
Diverters for irregularly shaped articles, such as baggage, share many of the same goals and challenges that diverters for regularly shaped articles, such as boxes or containers, face. One goal is to sort the articles at a high rate so that the diverting or sorting function does not significantly slow the throughput of the articles. Another goal is to minimize damage to the articles being diverted. The faster the rate of the throughput, the greater the challenge this becomes.
Similar to boxes and containers, baggage can vary in their weight, size, and centroid location. In contrast to boxes or containers, baggage can vary greatly in their shape and composition. For example, baggage may include a relatively rigid suitcase, a duffle bag, a ski bag, a golf bag, or the like. Some baggage, such as duffel bags, is malleable. When pushed they may change shape or roll. This variation in shape and malleability of these irregularly shaped articles makes sortation even more challenging than sortation of regularly shaped articles. For example, baggage may be more susceptible to damage than articles, such as containers, because of the material forming the baggage, such as in the case of duffle bags, does not absorb any significant impact. Furthermore, given the variation in size and shape of baggage, larger articles, such as large trunks may topple over the diverter when diverted by many conventional diverters. Furthermore, baggage may include straps or loose handles, which can be easily snagged or caught up in a diverter assembly.
Consequently, there is a need for a diverter that can divert a variety of articles, including regularly shaped or irregularly shaped articles, at a high speed of sortation without the attendant problems associated with conventional diverters.
Accordingly, a diverter assembly of the present invention has a particular application as a high-speed diverter and may be used to divert articles, such as baggage or the like.
In one form of the invention, the diverter assembly includes a generally horizontal conveying surface, a pair of flipper assemblies on opposite sides of the conveying surface which are collinear when in an actuated position, and a driven diverting surface defined on each flipper assembly. The diverter assembly further includes an actuator for selectively and substantially concurrently actuating the flipper assemblies to their actuated positions, where an article on the conveying surface is diverted, and driving the diverting surface.
In one aspect, the diverting surface is defined by a driven surface, such as a drive belt.
In other aspects, the diverting surfaces of the flipper assemblies are at an angle with respect to the direction of travel of the articles on the horizontal conveying surface that is in a range from 20xc2x0 to 60xc2x0. In a further aspect, the angle is approximately 45xc2x0.
According to yet another aspect, the actuator extends downwardly from the horizontal conveying surface no more that 18 inches. In a further aspect, the actuator extends downwardly from the horizontal conveying surface no more than 12 inches.
In yet another aspect, the diverter assembly is capable of diverting at least 60 articles per minute and, in some applications, is capable of diverting at least 80 articles per minute. In yet other applications, the diverter assembly is capable of diverting upwards of 140 articles per minute.
According to another form of the invention, a diverter assembly includes a conveying surface having a conveying direction, a pair of arms at opposed sides of the conveying surface, a driven diverting surface defined at both arms, and a drive assembly. The arms are mounted for pivotal movement between a non-diverting position wherein the arms are adjacent the conveying surface and a diverting position wherein the arms are pivoted across the conveying surface for diverting one or more articles conveyed on the conveying surface in a transfer direction. The drive assembly selectively and substantially currently moves the arms between their diverting position and their non-diverting position wherein an article on the conveying surface is diverted when the article contacts at least one of the arms when the arm is in its diverting position. In addition, the drive assembly drives the driven diverting surfaces at a speed that is approximately equal to the speed of the conveying surface divided by the cosine of the angle between the conveying direction of the conveying surface and the transfer direction of the diverter assembly.
In one aspect, the arms are generally collinear when the arms are pivoted to their diverting positions. In another aspect, at least one of the arms comprises a horizontal extent and a belt extending around the horizontal extent. The belt is driven about the horizontal extent and provides the diverting surface for that arm.
According to another aspect, the diverting surfaces comprise driven belts. For example, the driven belts are driven by rollers. In a further aspect, each roller includes a driven axis about which the respective roller is driven. The arms pivot about their respective pivot axis when pivoting between their non-diverting position and their diverting position. Optionally, the drive assembly may be adapted to decouple movement of the driven belts about their driven axis from movement of their respective arm about their pivot axis. For example, the drive assembly may include a clutch assembly.
In yet a further aspect, each driven axis is collinear with its respective pivot axis. In an alternate aspect, the driven axes and the pivot axes are spaced apart.
In another form of the invention, a diverter assembly includes a generally horizontal conveying surface, a pair of arms at opposed sides of the conveying surface, a driven diverting surface defined at each of the arms, and a drive assembly for selectively moving the arms between a diverting position and a non-diverting position. In the diverting position, the arms are pivoted with a portion of the arms extending across the conveying surface and another portion of the arms extending beyond the conveying surface, which continues to drive a diverted article when the diverted article is diverted off the conveying surface.
In one aspect, each of the arms includes a distal end, which are generally adjacent when the arms are pivoted to their diverting position. In another aspect, the distal ends of the arms are spaced apart when the arms are pivoted to the diverted position.
According to yet another form of the invention, a diverter assembly includes a generally horizontal conveying surface, a pair of arms which are mounted at opposed sides of the conveying surface, a driven diverting surface which is defined at each of the arms, and a drive assembly. The arms are mounted for pivotal movement between a non-diverting position wherein the arms are adjacent the conveying surface and a diverting position wherein at least a portion of the arms are pivoted across the conveying surface. The arms are spaced longitudinally along the conveying direction of the conveying surface wherein distal ends of the arms are offset and spaced apart when the arms are moved to their diverting position. The drive assembly selectively moves the arms between the diverting position and the non-diverting position.
In one aspect, the drive assembly drives the driven diverting surface and, further, drives the driven diverting surfaces at a speed approximately equal to the conveying speed of a conveying surface divided by a cosine of an angle between the conveying direction and the diverting direction. In this manner, when the article makes contact with the diverting surface, the forward vector component of the belt speed will approximately equal the forward speed of the article. As a result, the speed of the article will remain substantially unchanged.
In yet another form of the invention, a diverter assembly includes a conveyor section having a generally horizontal conveying surface, a pair of arms at opposed sides to the conveying surface, and a drive assembly. The arms are mounted for pivotal movement between a non-diverting position and a diverting position wherein at least a portion of the arms are pivoted across the conveying surface. The conveying surface is adapted to be selectively lowered at the arms when the arms are in their diverting position to release any articles caught between the conveying surface and the arms. The drive assembly selectively moves the arms between the diverting position and the non-diverting position.
In one aspect, the diverter assembly further includes a driven diverting surface defined at each of the arms; for example, the diverting surfaces may comprise driven belts. In a further aspect, the driven belts are driven at a speed equal to the conveying speed of the conveying surface divided by a cosine of an angle between the conveying direction and the diverting direction to thereby maintain the forward speed of the article being diverted generally constant.
According to yet another form of the invention, the diverter assembly includes a generally horizontal conveying surface, a pair of arms, and a driven diverting surface which is defined at each of the arms. The driven diverting surface has a vertical height of at least twelve inches whereby contact between an article and the arms will occur at or above the centroid of most articles. The diverter assembly further includes a drive assembly for selectively moving the arms between a non-diverting position wherein the arms are adjacent the conveying surface and diverting position wherein at least portion of the arms are pivoted across the conveying surface.
In one aspect, the driven diverting surfaces comprise driven belts. For example, each of the arms may include a horizontal extent, with the driven belts driven around the horizontal extents of the arms. In a further aspect, the driven belts are rotated about a pair of belt axes with the arms pivoting about a pivot axis spaced inwardly from one of the belt axes.
It can be appreciated from the foregoing that the diverter assembly of the present invention can divert articles that are conveyed at a relative high-speed without significantly, if at all, reducing the rate at which the articles are handled. Furthermore, since an article is redirected without significantly reducing the articles forward motion, the impact to the article being diverted is minimal.
These and other objects, advantages, purposes, and features of the invention will become more apparent from the study of the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.